1. fatty alcohols Usually high-molecular-weight, straight-chainprimary alcohols, but can also range from as few as 4 carbons, derived from natural fats and oils, including lauryl, stearyl, oleyl, and linoleyl alcohols. They are used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents, plastics, and lube oils and in textilemanufacture. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 5th ed)